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OTTAWA, May 31 (Reuters) - Canadian producer prices increased by 0.8% in April from March, driven mainly by higher prices for energy and petroleum products and pork, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a month-on-month increase of 0.3%. Of the 21 major commodity groups, 10 rose, seven fell and four were unchanged.
Prices for energy and petroleum rose 4.2%, pushed up by a 9.2% rise in prices for gasoline.
Fresh and frozen pork prices posted a 11.6% gain, the highest monthly jump since the 16.5% leap seen in March 2014, thanks to a decrease in global hog supply driven by an outbreak of African swine fever in China.
Prices for raw materials rose by 5.6%, the fifth consecutive monthly gain and the largest increase since December 2016, thanks largely to higher prices for energy.
Hog prices jumped 37.8% in April, the largest increase seen since January 1999, also due to the effects of the African swine fever outbreak.
Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Bernadette Baum
